Palace distances from impeachment complaint filed vs. VP Sara

Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin on Tuesday said the Office of the President has nothing to do with the impeachment complaint filed against Vice President Sara Duterte. 

Bersamin’s remark came after reporters sought comment from Malacañang regarding the filing of impeachment complaint against Duterte, which was endorsed by Akbayan Party-list Representative Perci Cendaña. 

“The impeachment complaint filed in the House of Representatives by several private citizens is clearly the complainants’ independent initiative, and its endorsement the prerogative of any Member of the House of Representatives,” Bersamin said. 

“The Office of the President has nothing to do with it,” he added. 

The executive secretary said President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr.’s earlier statement as regards the impeachment was “unambiguous.” 

Despite their apparent rift, Marcos had said he is not supportive of any impeachment plan against Duterte.

Marcos expressed belief that an impeachment plan against the Vice President would not benefit the lives of Filipinos.

“This is not important. This does not make any difference to even one, single Filipino life, so why waste time on this?” he said. 

“What will happen to the-- if somebody files an impeachment? It will tie down the House, it will tie down the Senate. It will just take up all our time, for what? For nothing. None of this will help improve a single Filipino life. As far as I’m concerned, it’s a storm in a tea cup,” he added.

In a separate ambush interview, Bersamin reiterated that the Marcos camp would not encourage the filing of impeachment complaints. 

''The President has been very clear about his position on this. So any suggestion na political iyan or instigated by our side, no. That is never true,'' he said.

Bersamin also said this process could be ''distracting'' since the government has a lot of things to do for the general public. 

The impeachment plans against Duterte rose after she said that she would have Marcos, First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos, and Romualdez killed if she herself was assassinated.

She later clarified that her “kill” remark was taken out of logical context. 

However, her statement drew criticisms from several government officials and even legal experts.—AOL, GMA Integrated News